Simon Mortimer

Believe it or not, the M5/M6 interchange on a Friday evening doesn’t rank as the worst commuter journey in the world — at least according to IBM.

Its 2011 Commuter Pain Index compiles data from over 8,000 car commuters in cities around the world to determine which are the most difficult to deal with on a daily basis.

Believe it or not, the M5/M6 interchange on a Friday evening doesn’t rank as the worst commuter journey in the world — at least according to IBM.

Its 2011 Commuter Pain Index compiles data from over 8,000 car commuters in cities around the world to determine which are the most difficult to deal with on a daily basis.

By analysing such information as commuting time, time stuck in traffic, petrol prices and driver stress, the index reveals that public transport usage is on the rise when it comes to getting to and from work compared to previous years.

69% of drivers still claim that commuting by car has adversely affected their health in some way though, with 42% reckoning that it has also raised their stress level.

Of the 20 cities included in the index, Montreal is the least painful for car commuters, while Mexico City is the worst; London ranks just after Montreal, believe it or not.

When asked about the longest amount of time they have been stuck in traffic over the past three years, the average time reported by drivers in Mexico City, Moscow, Beijing, Shenzhen and Nairobi were worst, with delays of about two hours.

In Moscow, almost 30% of drivers said they been stuck for over three hours. About half of the drivers in Stockholm, Singapore, Madrid and Buenos Aires, on the other hand, reported spending less than 30 minutes stuck in traffic.

The index is part of an ongoing research effort by IBM into new ways to cope with the increasing amounts of traffic on our roads, whether it’s new ways to reduce pollution to improving the public transport infrastructure.